Barking At The Moon
by atomicmelody413
Summary: One day a drunk Sirius Black stumbles into a lonely Remus Lupin's life. Will a friendship blossom, or perhaps even more?
1. Chapter 1

~Chapter 1~

Remus sighed. He lacked the motivation to do anything anymore. It wasn't like he could do anything anyways. Being a werewolf made it much harder to get a job to support himself. He made good grades at Hogwarts but was it really worth it? He didn't have a single friend all throughout his seven years there. Nobody wants a werewolf for a friend, especially a werewolf that even Snape, the biggest loser at school, made fun of. Even so, Remus felt like he should be grateful to Dumbledore for giving him the opportunity to be at Hogwarts. He learned important things about magic, and even more importantly how life works. Remus will always be rejected by everyone, always alone. At Hogwarts and even now, three years after graduation, people will look down on him for things he couldn't control. It was the cold hard facts of his horrible life and it would never get better.

Remus stomped on the leaves on the ground beneath him. The crunch of the brown leaf and stick mixture was miniscule to the crunch he felt in his heart. It really wasn't fair! Remus thought, angrily jumping on the dirt path back to his crappy apartment in the ghetto outside of London, all he could afford with his meager pay doing odd jobs for Muggles like mowing lawns (with a real nonwizard lawnmower, of course) and shoveling snow.

Walking up to the entrance of to the shabby apartment complex, Remus sighed. The dingy gray walls and yellowing balconies where residents sat outside smoking weed and stalked their neighbors made Remus feel like he was just as ugly as the habitat he lived in. He began to head up the stairs to his apartment on the sixth floor, as the elevator had been broken for a year now. The werewolf kept his head down low, watching his feet take steps over broken stairs and rarely looking up to see where he was headed. That was probably why he didn't notice the drunk tumbling down the stairs, taking Remus down with him.

At the bottom of the staircase once again, Remus stood up, just as flustered as the drunken fool who shoved him.

"U-uh, s-sorry" the black haired boy slurred, helping Remus up but falling down again the process. Remus returned the favor and helped him up as well, getting a look at him for the first time.

He looked about the same age as Remus did, but much more filled out (not in a fat way, but a muscular way) and had messy, black hair reaching to about shoulder length. He had a couple bruises from banging down the stairs, but otherwise he seemed okay for the most part. He smiled at Remus, but the werewolf couldn't tell if it was a genuine smile or he was just that fucking drunk. Remus pitied him, and despite having his own problems, he felt compelled to help.

"Do you want me to take you home or let you crash at my place?" he offered.

The drunk nodded. "Your pl-pluh-place, if th-that's okay."

Remus put the black haired boy's arm around his shoulder and half-walked/half-carried him up the six flights of stairs to his small four room apartment.

He took his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Sorry for the mess." Remus apologized opening the door and ushering his intoxicated guest into the living room, a simple blue room with a cheap TV and a mix-matched couch and lazy chair set. A wooden coffee table that wiggled a bit sat in the middle of the room on a stained fuzzy green carpet. The one nice thing in the room was the bookshelf. It took up the entire back wall and was neatly organized by information types, with everything from potions, to spells, to goblin history. Remus loved reading and he took the time to read every day.

"Erm, there's some food in the kitchen and you can rest on the couch," he motioned to the kitchen and couch with his hand, "I will go get you clothes."

The boy nodded and Remus looked at him further. He was actually kind of attractive and looked oddly familar.

"What's your name, by the way?" Remus asked.

"Sirius," he smiled, "S-sirius Black."

"Well, welcome to my humble home, Sirius. Enjoy your stay," Remus glowed warmly, "I will go fetch you some fresh clothes."

Remus headed out of the living room to his bedroom. He ruffled thtough his drawers to find clothes that would fit Sirius. He was a bit bigger than Remus but he managed to find a black t-shirt and some sweatpants that would fit him. The werewolf brought the clothes out to his drunken guest, only to find him sleeping soundly on the couch. Remus put the clothes down on the table and sat down on the other couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. As he was mindlessly flipping through channels, Remus listened to Sirius's snores. Sirius looked a lot less rough around the edges when he was asleep. His body was curled into a ball with his arms cuddling a pillow as if it were a child. It was getting hard to focus on the TV program, Remus was so fascinated by the other human being in his house. That's when it hit him, who Sirius was. He was in Gryffindor with him at Hogwarts. He was very good friends with James Potter, and they were the coolest students at the school. Remus never paid attention to those types of people, or any people at that, because he tended to keep to himself and read books. But now he wished he had tried to talk to Sirius. He always seemed to know how to have fun. But who was he kidding? Sirius wouldn't want to spend time with someone like Remus. After today, Sirius would probably never come into his apartment again. Remus sighed. The TV program was over. Remus turned the TV off with the remote and watched Sirius for a few more minutes before going off to bed, shaking his head at the idea of having a friend.

Remus changed into his PJs, still arguing with himself over befriending Black. Maybe he could talk to Sirius in the morning when he was less drunk, and have a chance to get to know him. But Remus didn't want to get his hopes up. Sirius probably wouldn't want to talk to him once he was sober and realized how uncool Remus really was. In the end, Remus decided that he would get up in the morning to make breakfast for them both and see where it goes from there. Sirius must at least stay that long. That's good, Remus thought and he drifted off to sleep planning his breakfast for two.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Remus woke up to a semi-sunny Saturday morning around 8 in the morning. He wanted to sleep in a little more, assuming Sirius was still asleep, but the light was cracking into his bedroom, preventing any chance of returning to the dream world again. Remus sighed, grumbling his way out of bed. He made his way to the kitchen to to to make breakfast for himself and his guest. He decided to make a proper breakfast which was a splurge on his budget, but he didn't want Sirius underfed. After chopping the vegetables, Remus scrambled the eggs and mixed in the peppers, onions and spinach to create a healthier egg breakfast. He was sprinkling cheese on top toaster popped out two peices of toast. Remus was putting the food on plates as a groggy Sirius walked in wearing the clothes Remus had given him the night before. Rubbing his eye, he smiled.

"Thanks for letting me stay here," Sirius said, in a much more clear voice than the night before, "It really means a lot."

Remus shook his head. "It was my pleasure, really," he smiled, "Sit down. I made breakfast."

Sirius pulled up a chair to the counter as Remus gave him a plate with eggs and toast on it, and silverware and a napkin.

"Sorry there isn't any bacon or sausage," Remus apologized, "I wasn't prepared for guests."

Sirius shrugged. "It's fine," he laughed, taking a bite full of eggs, "It's better than any food I would have gotten at my place."

Remus felt slightly better. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked, "Milk? Orange juice? Water?"

"Orange juice would be great, thanks" Sirius flashed another smile similar to the one ladt night.

Maybe it wasn't a drunken smile, Remus hoped, maybe he is genuinely nice. Oh well, he still probably can't wait to get out of here, away from Loony Lupin.

Remus poured Sirius a cup of orange juice, of which the label claimed to be of real oranges from Florida grown by the Indian River.

"So," Sirius chuckled, "You put some quality in to your choice of orange juice, don't you?"

Remus nodded nervously and handed him the glass. Then he took his own plate and orange juice and sat across from Sirius. There was silence for a minute, the only sounds being the crunch of toast and the clinking of plates, but then Sirius cleared his throat.

"So," he starts, "What's your story?"

Remus looked up at him, flashing a nervous glance that Sirius hopefully didn't notice, before looking back down at his own plate. Why would Sirius want to know about him? He wasn't cool or even interesting. (Well, except for being a werewolf, but Remus wasn't going to tell him that particular information.)

"I don't really have a story."

Sirius laughed. "Sure, you do! Everyone has a story!"

"Not me." Remus said, quieter now.

Sirius looked at him with his big brown eyes with a gleam of concern.

"You probably have an amazing story. You are so smart. I always saw you in the Gryffindor common room with your nose stuck in a book. It fascinated me." Sirius spoke with genuine interest, catching Remus off guard.

"You noticed me?" Remus asked, bewildered.

"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed, "Prongs, uh excuse me, James and I always wanted to talk to you but we didn't know how to pry you out of those books."

Remus was shocked. He didn't know what to say.

"I didn't think people wanted to ta-"

"Of course people wanted to talk to you!" Sirius interrupted, "I wanted to help you get out there and experience it with us."

Remus felt nauseated. The thought of social interaction, especially with someone as outgoing as Sirius, terrified him. What if people didn't like him? What if he was too poor, too nerdy, too quiet? What if someone found out he became a fucking wolf every full moon? Remus couldn't interact with people. He wasn't brave enough like Sirius Black or James Potter, he was a loser.

There was still a silence.

"Your story," Sirius pressed.

Remus sighed.

"Well," his voice cracked, "I just keep to myself, always, before, during, and after Hogwarts. It was easier that way."

Sirius frowned. "That's not right though! You are probably really interesting if you just opened up to someone!"

Remus shook his head. "I can't open up to people. I just can't." Remus shook a little bit.

"Sure you can," Sirius tried, but Remus would not budge.

Sirius sighed. There was an awkward silence.

Remus normally liked silence. It gave him a sense of peace, but this silence was different. It made him uncomfortable. He could feel Sirius's disappointment, but Remus can't make friends. Why was Sirius so interested in him anyways? The confident boy who ruled the student body at Hogwarts always had plenty of company with his accomplice in mischief James, plus Peter and the countless witches who were in awe of his radiant coolness. Remus was an introverted werewolf with depression and an inability to even talk to others, much less be social on regular basis. Sirius has no reason to even be nice to him, outside of this favor of letting him stay the night. Was that what it was? Did Sirius think he had to be Remus's friend just because he helped him? Remus didn't need that pity. He didn't want to hold Sirius down with his depressing mood. He needed to just let Sirius leave, even though Remus knew he probably won't have any more company for a long time once Sirius was gone.

"You don't have to be my friend," Remus spurted, breaking the silence.

"I know," Sirius laughed, "But I want to!"

Remus was taken aback. Was he lying?

"I'm dead SIRIUS," he giggled at his own pun, and continued, "I really am serious though. I want to be your friend."

"Oh."

Sirius looked at Remus with his big brown eyes. Then he glances at the clock behind him.

"Oh!" Sirius bounced up, "I have to go! Thank you so much for letting me stay! But James is meeting me at my place in two hours. You are welcome to come! I live in apartment 612."

He continued rambling all the way out the door. The door shut behind him. Remus was half glad as that was enough socialization to last a month, but half sad. It was nice having company, no, a friend. Maybe he would go to Sirius's place this afternoon.

But with that idea, a battle began in his mind. Just because Sirius wanted to see you, it doesn't mean James does. James probably thought Loony Lupin was boring as fuck. Maybe I should take a shower and think about it, Remus thought. He headed to the bathroom. He slipped off his clothes and stepped into the shower. He stood there in silence for a few minutes, letting the hot water run over his body as he thought to himself about Sirius, James and his own hatred for himself. After starting to shampoo his hair, he decided he would go, but wouldn't stay long. Satisfied with this resolution, he finished showering and headed to his room to get dressed.


End file.
